Cattle Numbers Fall In BJP-Ruled States
- 12-Dec-2020
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Karnataka has become the latest BJP-ruled state to put a stringent anti-cattle slaughter Bill in motion. On Friday, the state government said that it would bring in an ordinance to implement the provisions of the Bill, passed by the Assembly on Wednesday but could not be approved by the Legislative Council before the session got over. The striking feature of this Bill is its definition of 'cattle'. It includes not just cows, bulls, bullocks and calves, but also male and female buffaloes. That makes it a comprehensive anti-bovine slaughter Bill.
Unlike the laws in other states, whose scope is restricted only to the Bos indicus and taurus species. The latter include cows, bulls, bullocks and calves, but not buffaloes, that belong to a separate Bubalus bubalis species. 'Cattle' in animal taxonomy covers just the desi Bos indicus and western Bos taurus species. Cattle and buffaloes are together termed 'bovines'.
Prior to Karnataka, it was Maharashtra, under the previous BJP-led government of Devendra Fadnavis, which had enacted the most rigorous anti-slaughter legislation. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act of 2015 made slaughter of bulls and bullocks a crime, punishable with a jail term of up to five years. Previously, the ban on killing was limited to cows and only attracted six months' imprisonment.
